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Sony and its PlayStation handheld consoles were for better or worse, ahead of their time, but there may be some light at the end of the tunnel for those wishing for a new model because a new rumor suggests that Sony is working on such a device that is capable of playing PS4 games. Since the inevitable downfall of the PS Vita, Sony’s second handheld, those who know its true value have been chomping at the bit for Sony to come out with another.
If Sony had just released the PS Vita closer to the time that Nintendo released the Switch, it could have done much better. Fast Forward to 2023 and Sony released the PlayStation Portal. A new ambitious handheld with an 8-inch display nestled between two sides of a DualSense controller. The only issue for some is that the Portal is just a dedicated Remote Play device. It doesn’t play PS5 games natively. The PlayStation Portal is a great handheld and it serves its purpose, but it’s not inaccurate to say that PlayStation fans want a handheld that plays games natively, as opposed to streaming them.
Those fans might be getting this handheld in the future.
Sony is currently working on a PlayStation handheld that plays PS4 games
Sony making a handheld that plays games natively would potentially be a big hit. Upon the announcement of the Portal, a lot of online discourse revolved around hopes that it wasn’t just for Remote Play. So the demand is there. According to Resetera, Russian Journalist Anton Logvinov, Sony is working on this handheld. If you’re not familiar with Logvinov, he was one of the first people to mention that Sony was going to port its first-party games to PC. This was accurate. So his claims of a PlayStation handheld carry some weight.
That being said, this is still just a rumor. It’s worth noting that Sony may be working on a handheld for native gameplay. But it’s also possible that the device never launches.
PS5 games may not be compatible
If this handheld does indeed exist, it still might not be what everyone is hoping for. Logvinov doesn’t just mention the handheld is being worked on. He also references PS4 games specifically with regard to the native gameplay support. What isn’t mentioned is PS5 games. However, there have been past rumors that Sony was working on a handheld that could run both PS5 and PS4 games natively. So there’s still a chance this new in-development will do the same.
In fact they could also end up being the same handheld. If that happens to be the case, then Sony may launch it with PS4 game compatibility first, and patch in PS5 game compatibility later. A lot is still unclear. If the new PlayStation handheld is real though, PlayStation fans will hopefully be happy. The Portal is successful and has exceeded Sony’s expectations. But there’s no doubt many fans want a handheld for native games.
It would be the right time, too. With the popularity of the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and other PC handhelds, not to mention a rumored Xbox handheld, Sony would be smart to consider its own.